Boat mooring arrangement



M y 1 51 w. w. GORMAN 2,552,424

BOAT MOORING ARRANGEMENT Filed A ril s, 1949 ZfliZlczrd' za 52m; c272 a 222 M2 Patented May 8, 1951 BOAT MOORING ARRANGEMENT Willard W. German, Lake Elmo, Minn.

Application April 8, 1949, Serial No. 86,137

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a boat hitch arrangement for mooring a rowboat or other like small boat.

It is an object of the invention to provide an inexpensive device that securely moors the boat to a pier or dock. It is essential that the device provide suflicient flexibility of movement of the boat to permit the boat while moored to ride rough water in severe storms. This is accomplished in the case of the present invention without resulting in damage either to the boat or to the dock to which the boat is attached.

The foregoing constitute some of the principal objects and advantages of the present invention, others of which will become apparent from the following description and the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a rowboat moored alongside a pier or dock and embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the boat and the dock, the view being taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

For purposes of illustrating the present invention one embodiment only is shown and will be described. It is recognized, of course that modifications may be made in the specific form illustrated without departing from the intended scope and spirit of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings the present invention is illustrated in connection with a rowboat generally indicated at 5 that includes a pair of sides 6 and I that merge together at 8 to form the front of the boat. At the rear of the boat the sides 6 and I are connected by a back 9. The floor of the boat is illustrated at H.

The boat 5 is shown disposed alongside a pier or dock II that has extending outwardly therefrom an arm l2. The boat 5 is spaced behind the arm l2 and the front end 8 of the boat is connected to this arm by means of a front hitch generally indicated at I3. Mounted on the dock II is a fastening bracket H that includes a ring IE to which is attached one end of a side hitch generally indicated at [6. The other end of this hitch I6 is attached to an eyelet I! located on the side 1 of the boat. To a similar ring I8 that is attached to side 6 of the boat is fastened a second side hitch l9 that in turn is fastened at its other end to a post 20' that projects into the ground as best shown in Fig. 2.

The front hitch l3 comprises a pair of coiled springs 2| that are disposed in spaced parallel relationship and are connected by front and rear cross bars 22 and 23 respectively that are fastened to the ends of the coiled springs 2|. At the center of the front cross bar 22 is an eyelet 24 to which is attached one end of a snap fastener 25. The snap fastener 25 is adapted to be secured to an eyelet 26 that is fastened to the arm l2 that extends outwardly from the pier H. To the center of the rear cross bar 23 is an eyelet 2'! to which is secured one end of a snap fastener 28. This snap fastener 28 in turn is adapted to be secured to an eyelet 29 that is mounted on the front end 8 of the boat 5.

The side hitches l6 and 19 are identical and each comprises a pair of tension coiled springs 38 that are secured on one end to a cross bar 3m and to the other end to a cross bar 3lb. To .the cross bar 3la is secured a snap fastener 32. The snap fastener 32 is adapted to be secured to the eyelet I! or I8 on one or the other side of the boat.

To the cross bar 31a, in the case of the side hitch I6, is secured a link 33 that is fastened to the bracket [4 on the pier Ii, whereas to the cross bar Bib, in the case of the side hitch i9, is secured a collar or band 34 that is fastened by means of a screw 35 onto the post 20.

There is just described a boat hitching device that securely moors the boat in place alongside the pier but at the same time provides for ample movement of the boat during storms and the like to prevent damage either to the boat or to the pier. The forward end of the boat can move up and down or sideways without being materially restrained by the front hitch I 3. The springs 2| stretch together or independently depending upon the direction and condition of the force applied by the boat while it is riding rough water to yield in whatever manner is required by the movement of the boat. The side hitches I6 and I9 likewise provide for upward and downward, as well as sideward movement of the boat 5 and also allow the boat to move forward and backward in response to the stretch ing of the springs 2| at the forward end of the boat.

It has been found in practice that this mooring arrangement is very effective in maintaining the boat in proper relationship with respect to the pier and the boat fastening members and at the same time it does not permit the boat to move away from its place of mooring a suiiicient distance to cause damage either to the boat or to any neighboring boats that may be moored in an adjacent location.

I claim:

A device for mooring a boat comprising a forward spring hitch that includes a plurality of parallel spaced tension coil springs connected at their opposite ends to front and rear cross bars, a fastening member attached to each cross bar at approximately the center thereof, one of said fastening members being adapted to be secured to the forward end of a boat and the other fastening member to a stationary fixed mooring member, and a, pair of side hitches, one being disposed on each side of the boat including a plurality of spaced tension coil springs connected on their front and rear ends to cross bars, and a fastening member attached to each cross bar at approximately the center thereof, one of said fastening members being adjacent to the side of the boat and the other to a fixed mooring 15 member.

WILLARD W. GORMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 5 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 973,906 Askegren Oct. 25, 1910 0 1,994,610 Steinhauer' Apr. 28, 1914 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 668,786 Germany Dec. 9, 19 38 703,285 France Feb. 3, 1931 

